News Tamil Nadu

Thirumavalavan Who Made Anti-Hindu Speeches Visits His Ancestral Temple Before Nomination

March 28, 2024
The Commune

The Tamil Nadu elections always bring unexpected twists, and this time was no different. People were surprised to witness Thirumavalavan, the leader of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), offering prayers at a temple before officially filing his nomination for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The VCK, a member of the I.N.D.I coalition led by the DMK in Tamil Nadu, has been allocated two constituencies, Chidambaram and Villupuram, where it has already established a presence and secured victories in previous elections. Thirumavalavan, the leader of VCK, is poised to contest in the Chidambaram constituency.

Following this, on 27 March 2024, Thirumavalavan personally visited the Mayavan temple, the deity of his clan, in his native village of Anganur in Ariyalur district. During this visit, the temple priest welcomed Thirumavalavan by garlanding him and performing a ceremonial ritual of tying headgear (Thalaipagai) on his head. After completing special worship at the temple, Thirumavalavan submitted his nomination papers to Ariyalur District Collector and Election Conducting Officer Annie Mary Swarna, accompanied by Ministers Sivashankar and Panneerselvam. This action took place before the formal filing of his nomination papers.

What captivated the general populace was the sight of Thirumavalavan, known for his outspoken criticism of Sanathana Dharma and his stance on Hinduism perpetuating caste divisions, and said temples features sculptures of nude figures only, has now earnestly engaging in worship at temples.

In this context, an older video featuring Thirumavalavan has gained traction on social media. In the video, he addresses a gathering, expressing opposition to educational policies based on Sanatana Dharma and humorously criticizes Hindu temples in front of the audience that, ““if the building has a dome, it is a mosque. If it is tall and straight, it is a church. And if it has dirty figurines, it is a temple”.

In 2017, Thirumavalavan said, “Destroy all hindu temples and in it place build Buddhist Viharas“. Addressing a gathering convened in Perambalur, VCK Chief Thirumavalavan, asserted that areas housing Shiva and Perumal temples were originally sites of Buddhist monasteries. He contended that these Buddhist structures were replaced by the construction of Shiva and Perumal temples, advocating for their demolition to pave the way for the erection of Buddhist temples in their stead. Furthermore, he proposed the establishment of Buddhist temples at the purported sites of Lord Thiruvaranganathar’s presence and the Kanji Kamachi Amman Temple.

In another occurrence during a webinar hosted by Periyarist groups, Thirumavalavan referred to women adhering to the Sanatana tradition as prostitutes. A particular excerpt from his speech circulating on social media highlights, “how are women valued in Sanatana Dharma, how are they treated? From time immemorial, how they have been oppressed and exploited… what does Sanatana Dharma say about women? Basically, women are created as prostitutes by God. All women are prostitutes as per Hindu Dharma…Manu Dharma… All women are prostitutes… that’s how they were created by God… they’re of a status lower than men. It applies to Brahmin women as well as to other women”.

In a book release event held in Chennai, Thirumavalavan said, “Building a temple is a business. I am not joking. Building temples, unlike any other business, is the most profitable and provides the highest income. Which other business is more profitable than the income generated by the Tirupati temple? What are the temple’s income and expenditure? People donate money to the Tirupathi temple. People pour money into the Ayyappan temple.”

On International Women’s Day (8 March 2024), a special symposium took place at Chennai Ambedkar Thital, with Thirumavalavan as the chief guest discussing “Revolutionary Ambedkar and Women’s Rights.” He said, “Take Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, or any other religion, the core fundamental philosophy of it would be fraternity i.e brotherhood. There is one religion in the world that denies brotherhood completely, they are asking do you know what is Sanatana Dharma?  Sanatana Dharma is a dharma that says there should not be brotherhood, they say that we have understood it wrongly. Today a women judge in High Court has said that Sanatana Dharma is different from rituals, yes that’s correct, as we say, rituals and principles are different, but this Sanatana Dharma’s particular principle defines hierarchy based on birth and no one can deny it.”

He also took part in the September 2023 Eradicate Sanatana Dharma conference where Udhayanidhi Stalin had compared Sanatana Dharma to mosquito and dengue and said that it had to be eradicated. In the same conference, Thirumavalavan had said “Sanatana Dharma can be destroyed when we turn OBC against FC (Forward Caste).”

He also insulted Hinduism at a Christian book launch event in December 2022.

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